Three Louisville Bats pitchers made history Sunday afternoon.
Tony Cingrani, David Holmberg and Sam LeCure combined to throw the franchise’s first-ever nine-inning no-hitter in Louisville’s 5-0 win at Toledo.
Cingrani tossed the first four innings, Holmberg the next three and LeCure the final two as the Bats went into the Triple-A All-Star break with a bang.
It was the second straight win for Louisville (45-47), which enters the break two games under .500 and 7.5 games behind International League West Division leader Indianapolis (52-39).
The only previous no-hitter in Louisville franchise history came on May 14, 2000, when Larry Luebbers tossed a seven-inning no-no in the first game of a doubleheader at Charlotte. However a trio of Bats topped that against the Mud Hens (40-51).
Cingrani, a left-hander who is down from the Cincinnati Reds for a rehab start, got things rolling. Cingrani, who is 0-3 so far this season with the big league team, struck out five and walked three in the first four innings. He got into a slight jam in the bottom of the second when he hit Mike Hessman, then walked Bryan Holaday before both advanced on Trayvon Robinson’s sacrifice bunt. Cingrani got out of the inning, though, by striking out Josh Wilson then getting Daniel Fields to fly out. He walked one batter in each of the next two innings, but that was it.
Holmberg (5-6), the winning pitcher, replaced Cingrani in the fifth and walked one and struck out three in his three frames. The southpaw walked Wilson, the first hitter he faced, before retiring the next nine in a row.
LeCure then finished off the no-hitter and Toledo, striking out four - including Hessman to end the game - in the final two innings.
The Bats got the only runs they would need in the top of the first inning, when they plated two.
Kristopher Negron led off the game with a line-drive double to left field, moved to third on Hernan Iribarren’s ground-ball single, then scored on Jermaine Curtis’ single to left. Iribarren later scored on Chris Berset’s sacrifice fly to center.
Louisville added another run in the third, when Brennan Boesch led off with a home run to right field, then tacked on two more in the seventh on Curtis’ two-RBI single to center field.
Both Boesch and Curtis led the Bats’ 11-hit attack with three apiece while Bryson Smith tallied two.
Louisville now has the next three days off before beginning a four-game homestand at Louisville Slugger Field against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Photo courtesy Louisville Bats Facebook Page
